


sin born.

by winonasawyer



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Blood and Injury, Canon Universe, Character Study, F/F, Heavy Angst, Homophobic Language, Lesbian Character, My First Work in This Fandom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Rape/Non-con Elements, Religious Conflict, Witchcraft, misty has a fuck ton of siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:26:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28969791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winonasawyer/pseuds/winonasawyer
Summary: when misty day was five, she saw two men kissing.it had been on the television (a little black box with a broken stand. her mama only let her watch christian movies, but her sister, delilah, had snuck out and bought some other tapes.) and she watched with rapt attention. she had never seen two men kissing before, and certainly not like that.or,a peek into misty day’s life; before the coven, during, and after.
Relationships: Misty Day/Cordelia Foxx | Cordelia Goode
Comments: 11
Kudos: 18





	sin born.

**Author's Note:**

> hey lol :0 
> 
> this is my first work in this fandom, so it’s probably gonna be weird as fuck. constructive criticism is appreciated (pls don’t destroy me though haha.) i was rewatching coven and i wanted to know more about misty day...next thing you know i have this shit. i’m excited though, and i hope y’all are too. 
> 
> ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ this work will contain heavy themes such as: 
> 
> •homophobia   
> •rape/non con elements   
> •rude christians (lmao)  
> •blood  
> •gore  
> •toxic family relationships
> 
> please keep these in mind before you read T-T
> 
> also, i see misty as having a fuck ton of siblings, like a stupid amount, so if that makes u uncomfortable- don’t read. and y’all can feel free to judge the shit out of me for the way misty and her fam talks (i died while writing it)

when misty day was five, she saw two men kissing. 

it had been on the television (a little black box with a broken stand. her mama only let her watch christian movies, but her sister, delilah, had snuck out and bought some other tapes.) and she watched with rapt attention. she had never seen two men kissing before, and certainly not like that. 

the kiss scene hadn’t gone on for more than five minutes, before her daddy came stumbling into the room, eyes droopy and breath stinking of beer. his sleepy drunk eyes snapped open when he saw the movie playing, and quick as a flash, he stormed over- practically smashing the off button with his anger. misty sat wide eyed and confused, her little hands clutching the soft ear of her teddy bear- a stained, hand me down toy that helped comfort her far better than praying ever did. 

“what in the hell were you just watchin’?” his voice was like a summer storm, deep and dark and drowning her like waves. fear and bewilderment sat plump in her chest, and misty gaped at her father. the man stood stupid with alcohol and rage, his anger bubbling over when she didn’t answer. “dammit girl,” he growled, blue eyes blazing. “i asked you what the hell you were watching!”

“i was just watchin’ a movie, daddy, i-“ 

“now i know damn well that your mama ain’t buy you them faggot movies. where did you get this?”

something in misty clenched up, desperate to keep delilah safe from the fuming man before her. (this couldn’t be her daddy, not this red faced man. her daddy read her bible stories and held her close when she cried and never, never said words like that.) it clenched up, but misty feared what her daddy would do if she lied. (“lying is a sin,” father richard told the little boys and girls in misty’s sunday school. “do you know where liars go?” all the children answered hell, and he smiled, but misty sat silent in her chair. she wanted to ask more, but father richard was moving on and suddenly the words wouldn’t appear, dying in her throat.)

“delilah buyed it daddy, she showed me an’ anaïse, she did!”

silence, before a crash of foul words poured from his lips- misty staring on with her hands trembling around the bear. he raged as he walked over to her, grabbing her hand and ignoring her pained cries as he threw her over his lap. the bear fell to the ground, all floppy-limbs and useless, but misty sobbed still. she didn’t know what was happening, and her father didn’t answer, instead pulling up her loose, frilly little thing of a dress and spanking her bottom red. she cried, the spanks not ceasing. 

“i will not allow you or your siblings to be poisoned by that blasphemy, y’hear?”

her backside burned red, and hot tears streamed down misty’s face. snot clogged her nose, and misty wished to sink into the floor- like nothing but a simple stain to be forgotten. another slap made her choke on her cries, and her father took the opportunity to turn her small face towards his. 

“do you understand me, misty?”

“y-yes sir,” she gasped, her blonde hair falling in her face. “i understand.” 

later that night, when the crickets were chirping and the family was in their beds- misty creeped out of her shared room with anaïse, and out into the kitchen.

there, delilah stood, tears streaking silent down her cheeks, startling when misty entered the small room. “what do ya want, misty?” her voice was firm, but it cracked and wobbled at the edges. the older girl swore, fists wiping away her tears. misty noticed how she stood- stiff as a board and regretted ever watching the movie that started this whole mess. 

“i wanna make sure you was okay. daddy beat ya blue and i-“

“it ain’t your fault, misty. i shoulda never bought that damn thing, huh?”

misty shook her head. the bear in her hands bulged around her fingers as she clutched it tighter. delilah watched her, before chuckling and turning to the fridge, wincing when she bent over and her behind screamed in protest. “do ya want a snack?”

“ ‘m sorry, lilah.” 

the blonde just looked at the little girl, with her teary blue eyes and bear clutched to her chest and sighed. she moved closer to her sister, crouching before her and choking down the pain that reared its head at the motion. 

“hey now, none of that. it ain’t your fault daddy's a bit of a bully, now is it?” misty let out a fragile giggle, biting her lip as she looked up at the taller girl. “y’see mist? daddy woulda found that junk anyways, it wasn’t your fault that he did.” 

“you ain’t mad at me?”

delilah laughed, a hand coming to brush back a strand of misty’s wild hair. (later, when she’s older, she will mourn the feeling of her older sister brushing her hair back, her fingers like silk against her cheek.) “nah, i ain’t mad. just a bit sore.”

the clenching feeling in misty crawled up her chest, and misty frowned. the bear’s eyes stayed open. “did daddy really not let ya eat supper?”

“yep. he’s awful mean, our daddy.” 

“but ain’t you hungry?”

“sure i am. that’s why i’m out here, tryna snatch a quick bite before daddy wakes up.” 

the hand around the bear’s arm gripped tighter, her little hand barely able to hold the thing. misty huffed, her bottom lip pouting. “pauvre ti bête, what’s stressin’ ya now?”

“it ain’t fair, lilah!” her outburst was loud, too loud. the pair of girls stiffened up, ears searching, desperate for the sound of their father’s feet not to appear. the whole house seemed to freeze in anticipation, but as the seconds creeped on and the man didn’t come, they allowed themselves to relax. delilah glared at her blabbermouth of a sister, but faltered when she saw the frustration on her face. “what ain’t fair, misty?”

“it ain’t fair how daddy and mama just let you go ‘bout the night with no food and how we got in trouble cuz of a silly old movie!” this time she whispered, but even that couldn’t stop them from shaking. tears bubbled behind her eyelids, and delilah gently wiped her face. the bear was on the ground now, face blank as always. 

“yeah, misty, it isn’t fair, huh? we didn’t even get to watch the full thing.”

despite her wishes, misty laughed, the sound squeaky and happy. her sister seemed proud of her accomplishment, and misty hugged around her neck. “there was two boys kissin’ on it, lilah. i think that’s why daddy had a fit.”

“really? two fellas swapping spit, huh?” delilah had picked misty up, supporting her small body easily. misty’s eyes dropped, suddenly tired from the events of the day. the older girl picked up the bear with one hand, offering it to the little girl and smiling when misty just hummed lazily. holding both the bear and misty, delilah made her way back to her sisters’ room. 

“yeah..they was kissin and huggin and..”

“hmm, maybe it was best daddy got rid of that tape.”

“but i see mama and daddy kissin all the time!” 

delilah laughed, opening the door quietly. her other sister, anaïse slept on, belly full and mind running with dreams. she snorted to herself, carefully placing the half asleep girl in her arms down on her bed. 

“i know you see them kissin’, misty, but it’s just different with two men, y’know?”

the little blonde huffed tiredly, her hands digging into the fabric of her sister’s nightgown. “why is it different, lilah?”

“you’ll know when you get a bit older, short fry.”

“..i wish ya would just tell me. imma a big girl, i can take it!”

smiling down at her sister, delilah pulled misty’s tiny fists from her nightgown, once again smoothing her hair back. 

“oh cher, you ain’t big enough to know stuff like that.” 

misty stayed quiet, sleep clinging to her bones. if she focused, she could hear the crickets and the breathing and the world around her, but she didn’t. all she could hear was delilah’s voice, warm like honey but muffled as exhaustion wrecked through her small body. 

“will ya stay with me, please?”

“your bed ain’t big enough for the two of us, silly girl.”

a hum, misty barely hearing the girl. she curled into her blankets, eyes fluttering shut. delilah watched misty for a second, before placing the bear between misty’s arms. for a moment, all was still, and the girl didn’t think of the burning in her stomach or the pain in her backside. she simply watched her sister, and waited. 

“night, misty.”

misty didn’t respond, and delilah creeped out of the room. 

-x-

when misty was ten, she got called a faggot. 

she had a best friend then. pretty as flowers on a sunny day, and with a voice like the little tweety birds outside her window. her name was sabine, and she was misty’s entire world. (when she wasn’t playing out near the swamps, dirtying herself with louisiana mud or making fun with the animals in her yard, she played with sabine, and loved every minute of it.) 

they met after church one sunday, all the housewives blabbering away to each other, their focus away from their children- who ran wild in front of the rundown building. what seemed like hundreds of little children were playing, no, screaming, and misty felt her throat close up. she had never been too social, and with her multitude of siblings at home, the idea of this many children made her head hurt. 

two of her siblings, claudette and cecile (twins), were holding on to the both of her hands. they should’ve been with misty’s mother, especially at the young ages of six, but their mama had never been two good with keeping up with her children; thus requiring misty to hold their hands. anaïse and delilah had run off, johnny and maurice talking with her dad about..something. misty sighed and looked back to her mother. the woman was rubbing her heavily pregnant stomach (really, how many children could one have before it was too much. misty felt like having so many kids before the age of fourth should’ve been some type of crime and seven going on ten seemed excessive.) and was talking to a few of the other pregnant women. 

beside her, claudette whined, trying to pull away from misty. misty glared down at the girl, blonde eyebrow raised. 

“hush up, claudette!”

“no!”, claudette pouted. “why can’t i play with them? i wanna play!”

mentally counting to three in her head, misty resisted the urge to scream. cecile just watched her two sisters, thumb in her mouth and eyes wide. she was clutching misty’s hand a bit tighter, and misty shifted uncomfortably. 

“you can’t play with them because mama told me to watch y’all, dummy.”

“i ain’t dumb! you the dummy!”

“oh for christ sake-“

“you can’t say that! imma tell mama and she gonna-“

“what’s mama gonna do? she can’t hit me with her big ole belly now can she?”

claudette stomped her foot, her cheeks flushing an angry red. misty rolled her eyes, but thought carefully about her next words-lest she cause claudette to have a tantrum. as she was thinking, a redhead girl with a face full of freckles approached her. 

“what’s goin on here?”

misty spared the girl a look, wondering if her exhaustion showed on her face. the girl smiled at her sympathetically and misty supposed it did.

“this little bugger-“

“hey!”

“wants to go playin with the other little annoyances. now i tried to tell ‘er that-“

“it ain’t fair! c’mon misty, please let me play with ‘em!”

claudette was begging now, making her eyes wide and sad- trying to get misty to fold. another sigh, “you know daddy would have my tail if i let ya do this, claudette.”

cecile and the redhead girl watched the two of them argue, cecile with concern, and the redhead with amusement. finally, the girl interrupted the two of them, a smirk on her face. 

“how’s about y’all come with me? that way claudette can stay close to ya, and y’all can get from standin there like a couple of statues.”

misty contemplated the girls words, but cecile shook her head rapidly. 

“our mama said we can’t be goin’ off with s-strangers.”

the girl laughed, red hair like strawberries falling forward and covering her face. misty blushed, but simply chalked it up to the hot louisiana sun. brush her hair back, the girl’s eyes shone with mirth and she leaned down to meet cecile’s eyes. 

“well we can’t have that, now can we? i’m sabine, and you?”

misty eyed sabine, before smiling at her. “i’m misty, the brat is claudette-“

“misty!”

“and the bug eyed one is cecile.” claudette grumbled out a hello, but cecile stayed quiet, moving closer to misty’s already tall form. misty didn’t pay it any mind, her focus on sabine, and sabine only. 

“so where was you planning on takin’ us?”

“well, it’s a secret. i can't just take strangers there..”

“we ain’t strangers!”, claudette blurted, bouncing on her heels, blond curls jumping with the movement. “i wanna see!” 

“claudette-“

“no, i wanna see. we wanna see, right, cee?”

cecile bit her lip, her arms wrapped around misty’s leg. misty flinched at the cold feel of her fingers but looked down at cecile patiently. the seconds stretched on, before the blonde girl nodded and moved closer to sabine. “i wanna see too,” she admitted, smiling along with her sister. 

sabine and misty grinned at each other, and together they all crept away from the bustling people, and into the open field. there were few trees here, but they still had shade, cool and like a kiss against their skin. ahead of them, claudette skipped, cecile following close behind her. 

“slow down, y’all don’t know where y’all goin- oh lord. claudette!” 

misty chased after them, exasperated yet laughing. sabine giggled along with her, and they ran, dashing through the fields until sabine stopped them, right in front of a little garden- stuffed full of blueberries and strawberries and all kinds of vegetables. claudette and cecile stared longingly at the fruit, their fingers practically twitching with excitement. 

“i ain’t never seen this place..” misty said, looking over the lush flora. “it’s awful pretty huh, cee? claud?” the twin girls didn’t respond, almost salivating the longer they gazed at the fruits. misty laughed at the sight, and sabine stepped over to them. “where are we?”

“this is my granddaddy’s property. ya see that house near that old tree? me and my mama live there. i grew this here garden myself.”

“really?” misty didn’t know why the thought of sabine working the land to her will- pouring in hours of her day into what was once a meager seed made her cheeks flush and her heart jump hurdles in her chest. claudette and cecile, already two steps away from bursting into little balls of energy, started reaching out to the raspberries, almost vibrating with barely restrained elation.

“hey! don't y’all have manners?”

twin pairs of voices responded loudly (“but misty!”), near close to whining. “nah, y’all can’t be grabbin at stuff like that without permission. cmon   
now, ask politely. sabine was nice enough to bring us here, the least y’all could do is ask before you eat up her fruit.”

claudette frowned, looking over to the redhead girl. sabine was smiling, walking closer to the six year olds. “aw lay up, misty. i ain’t my mama, i don’t care about manners and all that junk. go ahead, you can try ‘em if you like.”

although her tone was confident, misty could pick up on the insecurities underneath the surface of them. her brow furrowed, but before she could question it further, a fat strawberry was shoved in her mouth.

“hey!”, she spluttered, spitting out the half smashed red fruit onto the grass- scowling when claudette and sabine’s laughter pierced the air. cecile just watched her anxiously, her mouth half stuffed with blackberries. “that ain’t funny!”

“oh don’t be such a sourpuss, misty!”

claudette’s blue eyes widened at sabine’s words, and she laughed, falling back with her legs kicking. “sabine called ya a sourpuss, misty!” misty glared, but she couldn’t deny the amusement brewing in her chest. she decided to play up her dramatics, if only to see how claudette laughed and cecile startled. 

“i coulda died, y’know!”

sabine rolled her eyes, throwing a stem at misty’s cheek. both cecile and claudette erupted in giggles at that, and misty allowed herself a smile. “y’all some traitors, and yes, i’m lookin’ at you cecile barbara day!” 

the little blonde girl gasped, looking seriously offended. “i ain’t no traitor!”, she wailed. misty walked over to her and ruffled her wavy strands a bit, chuckling at the miffed huff her sister gave in return. “i know, bug. just like getting ya all riled up.”

cecile’s face was pinched, but it quickly loosened as misty snuck up to claudette’s still laughing form, attacking her body with tickles- quick as a shot. claudette squealed, laughter racking her body. the four of them then proceeded to gorge themselves on berries and bread and milk (sabine had run off to her house, grabbing a loaf and a bottle for them all to share) for hours, until misty realized the time and cursed loudly. 

“oh shoot! we was supposed to be back ages ago. damnit, daddy’s gonna kill us-“

“you said a bad word!”

“i know, god! that ain’t the problem right now, cecile! crap! cmon, we gotta go.” misty hurried to pull her sisters from sabine’s garden, looking over apologetically at the redhead. sabine frowned, and misty hated how her heart burned in her chest because of it. “i could ask my mama to take y’all home-“

“that ain’t gonna work. if we run we can make it..” misty trailed off, the pain in her chest on the brink of unbearable. this feeling made her head spin, and the whining of her sisters wasn’t helping a bit. sabine crossed her arms, her eyes sharp. “i’ll come with y’all. i don’t even know if we’re gonna see each other again, i’d be a fool to just let y’all go off alone.” 

a fragile laugh poured from misty’s mouth and she nodded. the sky was tinged with orange, and as sabine grabbed claudette’s tiny hand, the four of them ran back, tripping over themselves and trying to outrace the setting sun. finally they ended up back at the church, sweating and panting and laughing to themselves. misty was sure they looked half insane, but she didn’t care. 

her brother johnny spotted them, and he stormed over to collect misty and the twins. he didn’t even look at the redhead girl next to them, angrily tugging his sisters away. before he could though, claudette and cecile quickly hugged sabine’s legs, and misty met her eyes. 

“thanks for today, sabine.”

sabine smiled, grabbing misty’s hand and squeezing it gently. misty’s eyes followed the motion, and her cheeks flamed. 

“it wasn’t no problem, misty. you and your sisters are good company. “ 

a painful clench of her heart, vision blurring. “will we get to see you and your garden again?”

another laugh, only this time dim and small. “as long as i live there, my garden is open to y’all.   
you especially.”

“misty, cmon.”

misty stiffened at the sound of her brother’s voice, wishing that the world would just freeze over for a second- so that maybe she could talk to sabine, say goodbye to her without interruption. she shifted on her feet, and before she could think about it, she hugged sabine closely, not even hearing the shocked gasp of the girl. sabine hugged back though, but misty pulled   
back as her brother glared at her. (if she looked closer, misty would swear that sabine was blushing, but it was hard to see, so for now she just shrugged it off.) 

“bye, sabine,” misty whispered. she wondered if sabine’s chest felt restricting, if she felt like her head was spinning. sabine looked at her, before turning away.

“bye, misty.”

misty was pulled away by her brother (who grumbled and said words that would have misty’s mouth tasting like soap for weeks if she repeated) and shoved into her eldest brother’s (maurice) large beat down truck. her mother and father and the twins were in another car entirely. she pushed them from her mind, instead choosing to stare at sabine’s retreating form, fists clenched over her sundress. it was silent in the car when they drove away from the church, and misty basked in it. soon though, the silence was broken as her sister, anaïse, started calling her name. 

“so, who that redhead girl?” misty’s head snapped over to the brunette, eyes glaring. anaïse didn’t react to her harsh eyes, still staring on at misty, waiting for an answer to her question. “she just a friend from church, that's all.” 

“oh really? so why you lookin all heart broken that we leavin’ her? and where did y’all go?”

misty’s clenched hands clenched harder- the skin over her knuckles stretched taut and white. her shoulders shook, and she hit her tongue, desperate to not start swinging at her smug sister. 

“why do ya even care, anaïse? i’m here now, ain’t i?”

delilah looked at the both of them, rolling her eyes. her annoyance with the two of her sisters was obvious, and it poured off her in waves. “i wanna know who you talking to like that, misty day.”

misty scowled, her nails digging into her palms. “you only three years older than me!” anaïse just shrugged, roughly poking the soft flesh of misty’s cheek. “that’s still means i’m older. ain’t you supposed to treat me with respect?”

“if you can spell respect then i’ll treat ya with it.”

the brunette gasped offendedly, delivering a sharp slap upside misty’s head in retaliation. misty in turn snatched up the end of anaïse’s braid, tugging harshly. 

hell broke loose. misty and her sister started slapping, hitting, and pulling any part of the other they could reach. delilah, now completely fed up with their nonsense, started trying to pull them apart. 

“what the hell you two! cmon now! for fucks sake, stop!” her voice rang shrill through the car, but maurice didn’t stop the car, johnny laughing at the scene. “yall best not break maurice’s car, or dad’ll make y’all walk to church by yourselves!” delilah glared at him, but his hyena laughter didn’t cease. 

“damnit, i said stop!”

misty couldn’t. her blood was rushing hot in her veins, and red was all she could see. she didn’t know what was wrong with her, but her head felt stirred and jumbled and the idea of her sister knowing about sabine (about the moment they shared, however fragile) made her heart stop and her palms sweat. (she wanted to keep sabine a secret, if only for a little while.) 

delilah had managed to grab one of misty’s flailing fists, slamming it back down on the seat of the car. her wrist protested, screaming in pain at the awkward angle it was forced down upon. tears sprang in her eyes, and she winced when delilah twisted her face towards the older girl. 

“don’t do that shit again, y’hear me? y’all ain’t animals, you should be able to fuckin’ communicate with each other without tryna kill the other one!”

anaïse lets out a pained laugh, even now finding humor in misty’s distress. she grimaced when delilah served her an equally pissed glare, looking down at her scuffed mary-janes. the two girls sat embarrassed as the car drove on, refusing to look at each other. misty rubbed her hand, while anaïse massaged the base of her neck- both of their egos hurting more than the bruises ever did. delilah grumbled to herself, staring out the tinted window. 

“can’t have a damn moment of peace with this family..”

tension spread out like a gunshot wound, all bloody and heavy and sickening. misty looked at anaïse, only a second, then closed her eyes. 

she saw sabine again. at church, her house, any and everywhere. 

sabine was good, misty thinks to herself late at night when the twins finally shut up and let her stretch out on the bed. she’s not white-good; she has a mouth like a sailor and steals her mama’s cigarettes, but she’s good all the same. they bake bread together, and when it comes out the oven all nice and hot, sabine lets misty spread as much butter and jam as she damn well pleases. misty likes that. at home, mama has a fit if she uses more than two spoonfuls of jam, screaming about her pregnancy cravings and doesn’t misty know better? so misty likes sabine, and her bread and her flowers and her lips. (the last one makes her feel guilty, and she prays to god a little longer and begs for forgiveness a little louder. soon though, she won’t feel guilty, but right now? now, all she knows is that she likes sabine, but she shouldn’t- so she doesn’t think about it, instead getting herself drunk off sabine’s words.) 

they walk along her old white fence, barefoot and snickering. sometimes, sabine’s mama watches them, gives them some boudin or gumbo for lunch, and everything feels fine for a few hours. claudette and cecile join them sometimes, but they get bored of eating berries and playing with sabine’s dog, cain, so they stay home more often than not. that’s fine, misty knows. she’s okay with having sabine to herself, however selfish it may be. 

in her big old house, misty doesn’t own anything. too many kids in one place, not enough room for misty, who seems to be sprouting like a reed- all lanky-limbed and awkward. she doesn’t own anything, so she will hold onto this friendship, keep it wrapped up in a little shoebox with lace and ribbon. 

one day, one of the boys from church follows her outside. he’s older than her, almost fifteen, but he follows her like a lost puppy and misty doesn’t really know his name. he gets called ti-jean, but she knows that’s not really his name, couldn’t be. ‘ti-jean’ has hair the color of fresh corn and piss yellow teeth and he pulls her aside with nails as sharp as crocodile teeth. 

“what do ya want, ti-jean?” she's not even thinking about him, too busy messing with the friendship bracelet sabine had made for her. it was a dainty thing, almost too dainty, but misty loved it completely.

the boy chuckled, but it was hollow- a carcass free of life (intestines, blood, a heart. it was like that skinned fox coat one of the church women wore- and it made misty sick to her stomach.) misty looked up at him, her neck straining from the night difference. she was tall, standing proud over her little sisters, but he was taller and suddenly she felt impossibly small. “can’t a guy talk to a pretty lady?”

“i ain’t no lady. seriously, what do ya want? i’m kinda in a hurry-“

“whoa, calm down misty girl. i just wanna talk with ya. no need to lose your head.”

misty glared at him, stepping back away from him and his crocodile smile. the sun breathed down on them like fire, but misty didn’t sweat from the heat, instead from the nerves moving like electricity under her skin. she clutched her rosary with one hand, willing herself to not submit in the face of this major annoyance. she cursed herself for telling sabine that she would meet up with her, for now she stood vulnerable and intimidated. she looked at the few kids flocking around the church before ignoring them entirely. (she severely doubted any of them would decide to play hero and stick up for her, especially against one of the older kids.) 

“leave me alone.” her voice was thick, the accent she spoke was more intense and piercing. the boy didn’t react though, stepping even closer to her, his breath stinking of garlic against her neck. 

“now why would i do that?”

“because if you don’t i’ll claw your damn eyes out.”

he laughed, the sound poison to misty’s ears. “you ain’t gonna do nothin to me. not with those scrawny arms.”

“wanna bet?” a pit was growing in her chest, eating, biting at her sanity. her fingers twitched and burned, her rosary dangerously close to snapping. (she would kill him, she would. she would crawl into his chest and fucking squeeze his heart until blood poured from his eyes and he went still.) 

“why you so eager to run away from me?”

“i don’t need to explain myself to you. now, back up away from me. i need to go to sabine’s-“

ti-jean (?) was getting angrier, face flushing angry   
and his smile turning ugly. he laughed again, interrupting her and only fueling her silent rage. “so the reason you rushing away, is because of sabine coleman?”

“it ain’t your business why i wanna leave.”

another laugh, completely toxic in nature (misty wondered if it burned his throat as he did it, and said a quiet prayer, hoping it did.) “what, you some type of faggot? sabine can wait for a minute, i’m tryna talk to you.” 

for a moment, misty doesn’t hear anything. she’s drowning, the world turned on its head and all of the water crashes into her chest. she can’t breathe, but he’s still talking, still getting closer. for a moment, misty doesn’t feel a thing, until she does- and she’s slamming her foot down on his feet. 

a sickening crunch, and there he is, curling into himself on the floor and screaming loudly. his screams catch the attention of the stray kids, but they don’t approach, choosing to watch misty with wide eyes. 

“don’t ya ever put your filthy paws on me again! do ya hear me?!”

his mouth opens, but he can’t respond. pained cries gush from his throat, like a stab wound or ink in water. misty’s hands are shaking, and she runs away; away from her destruction, her chaos. she runs away, and runs straight towards sabine’s house- towards sabine.

the land misty had traveled before, maybe hundreds of times- now seemed like foreign territory. she tripped and stumbled over roots, scuffing her already broken down shoes. her hair falls damp in her face, and she curses god for this day. (later when her cuts are being patched up by sabine- misty will be reminded of the consequences of thinking ill towards god, and will pray until her knees bruise red and her back is strained.) 

cain, sabine’s great pyrenees, perks up when he sees her form, and he bolts across the field- mother slobbering and his happy barks ringing through the air. misty wished to meet him, but her head was spinning and she felt like she was gonna vomit and oh god she just hurt a person-

she fell to the harsh earth, cain just barking on.

(sabine’s mama found her. she picked her up and took her inside, to where sabine herself fed her and forced water down her throat until the color returned in misty’s face. the two of them hugged, but misty couldn’t forget about the sick feeling in her chest and the boy’s words.

when she got home, she took an hour-long shower. she scrubbed her skin raw, and scratched it red. 

she couldn’t get clean.)

-x-

when misty was eleven, she saw someone die, and brought another back to life. 

her mother’s pregnancy had been going fine, the doctor said. (misty didn’t believe him. she saw her mama’s stomach, and she saw how the woman cried- the triplets inside her growing bigger and bigger still.) misty had heard that pregnancy made women glow (she had been too young to remember when her mama was pregnant with the twins, misty only four when they were born) but as she looked at her mama, she didn’t think the woman was glowing. she was fading, and misty didn’t know what to make of it. 

when her daddy wasn’t nursing a six pack of beer, he would sing her mama songs. he didn’t do it in front of them (never in front of the kids), but misty heard him. his songs were always short little things, and she had to strain to even hear him. the songs told stories of a better time, times hidden secret and stuffed back to the deepest corners of one’s mind. misty heard the songs meant for her mama and wondered about her parents. 

(she wondered where her daddy had learned those sad songs, had he written them? had her mama been the first to hear the words fall from his lips, the first to have them wash over her skin? she wondered, and the triplets grew and her daddy sang.)

when the triplets were born, it was a sunny day. it feels like a lie, the sunny happy day, for when they came into the world, misty’s mother screamed- and the world erupted in red. 

misty watched as her mama fell to the ground, crying and shaking like she was being split in two. her older brothers rushed over to her, trying to help get her on her back. their dad stood blank faced, but misty could see the way he shook with silent tears. she was holding claudette and cecile close- but all of their eyes were on their mama- still screaming, still bleeding from between her legs. 

“we need to get her to a hospital!” that was anaïse, and she sobbed as the woman let out a painful scream. the contractions seemed to rush after the other- time slipping through misty’s grasp like sand. she looked toward her father, with his scared white face and shaking hands and feared. 

“daddy! did you hear me? we need to get her to a hospital!”

the man didn’t answer, his face and fists pale and trembling. misty had never seen her daddy like this (so broken, so terrified), and that realization was scarier than anything in this goddamn world. the twins were crying (the house was getting louder, too loud) and misty swore the room was sinking in on itself. 

somehow, the wailing woman was forced into maurice’s car, face flushed and screams almost constantly ripping from her throat. delilah and johnny pulled their father into the truck with them- leaving anaïse, misty, and the twins standing alone. delilah jumped out of maurice’s car, looking at her sisters and gesturing for them to follow her into their dad’s small truck. 

once inside, claudette looked anxiously at the speeding car, biting her lip until it bruised and swelled. cecile wasn’t any better, sobbing and getting snot all over her face. misty looked at both of them, and then back at her hands. 

(there was so much blood.)

-

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked- drop a comment or a kudos!! 
> 
> i am planning on updating soon, but please be patient if i do!


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